James 2:18 says, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (NIV) In light of this scripture, our beliefs must go beyond lip service. If we believe that the gospel is THE cure, then we must be expressing it in our daily actions, Amen?!
Now, consider the greatest community, the church. The Barna Research group is asking why, “among those who grew up in church, have nearly six in ten dropped out at some point? Why have more than half been absent from church for the past six months? Why do three in ten Millennials say church is not at all important while an additional four in ten feel ambivalent, saying church is either somewhat important or somewhat not important?” (Barna, 2015) This doesn’t sound like the greatest community, does it? Barna goes on to say that some smaller churches struggle to keep from thinking of themselves as “a religious service industry.” In other words, the church is one element of spiritual growth. It is becoming increasingly common for some folks to attend multiple churches or participate in multiple avenues of spiritual well-being that are not necessarily tied to one church, but are also not: 1) committed to just one church 2) not under one leadership covering, 3) limited to consumer based activities.
So, what’s your take on this?
I hope you will think of this as a conversation starter. It is my hope that this article would raise questions and awareness so that you will be motivated to discuss these ideas with each other.
Looking forward to hearing your input.
